Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering Report
The 2016 Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering (YLG 2016) was held in Jakarta, Indonesia from August 3rd to 10th with the theme of “United in the Great Story.” Highlighting the historical vision of the Lausanne Movement to connect influencers and ideas for the purpose of advancing global mission, YLG 2016 drew 1,000 emerging leaders from over 140 countries who are involved in various spheres of mission. Approximately two-thirds of the participants were invited from the Majority World in order to reflect the current state of world Christianity.
Particularly notable throughout the conference was a spirit of connection in God’s grand narrative of the world. Connections took place at different levels: small mentoring groups, one-on-one meetings, regional gatherings, and issue-based networks. Influential Christian thinkers such as Os Guinness and Ravi Zacharias shared profound insights on the uniqueness of the Christian gospel as well as on the formidable challenges for mission in our globalized world. The overwhelming social and spiritual challenges led to a clear awareness of the need for further collaboration and partnership in global mission.
YLG 2016 offered unique opportunities for connection through 35 workshops focused on some of the most important missiological issues set forth in The Cape Town Commitment. Diverse issues such as Bible translation, children at risk, creation care, diaspora, media engagement, mental health, and the study of global Christianity were carefully discussed in each workshop. New initiatives, prospective partnerships, and regional collaborations were proposed to put what was discussed into practice.
YLG 2016 aims to continue to connect its participants through what is called the Lausanne Younger Leaders Generation. All participants are invited to join in this ongoing connection through issue networks and regional groups. Daewon Moon, the doctoral fellow at the CGCM, attended the conference as a delegate representing South Korea and Burundi.
A summary video about YLG 2016 is accessible here.
Report by Daewon Moon